The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-12
REDDY TAKES A RIDE.

lew ydIuS only.
REDDY TAKES A RIDE.
Among them was a bright lad of sixteen,
though looking much younger. He was a
newsboy and orange-peddler, well known in
San Francisco for his quick wit, brilliant
shock of intense hair and predisposition fol-
mischief. He was a thin, wiry little fell
low, and known by his comrades as "Red-
dy."
Either of his own motion or at the care
less suggestion of some thoughtless person
Reddy jumped astraddle of the suspended
scantling and handed his basket of oranges
to his partner Some one sung out, LET
her goI" and up she went, to the consterna
ton of everybody that knew it was an acct
dent. The boys legs We're suspended in the
air, and his weight depressed the hoop tC
which the bar was attached, throwing his
back against the ropes of the balloon, the
ropes being only one-quarter of an inch il
circumference.
As the boy arose Prof. Kelly cried out tc
''pull the valve rope when he wished to
come down" But the valve rope had
caught in the balloon netting and was moi
to be reached. He assembled rapidly for
some forty feet, when current of all
turned the balloon in southweSterly direc-
ton, and, clinging to the ropes, he was car
ried across an arm of the bay to the south
height.
Prof. Kelly mounted fleet horse and en-
deavored to follow the course of the balloon
in vain. 1t was seen through glass to be
drifting over the crest of mountain, but
whether the boy still maintained his grip on
the ropes or not was uncertain. The course
of the voyage was now turned in q north
easterly direction. In half an hour from
the start the balloon was lost to view, and
@l,,.o 81 lo,rie ofotxv
Death stared him in the face If he was not
dashed to earth he would go up until he
reached great height, when the rarefac-
ton of the air would destroy him. Another
danger awaited him. He was thinly clad
and would soon become benumbed and
frozen, relax his hold and fall to the earth.
REDDYs THRILLING EXPERIENCE.
Reddy said, in relating his experience,
that he twas dizzy at first and shut his eyes,
but thought he must brace up, as he was in
for it, and do the best he collldn He saw a
panorama of the city. He heard people
shouting orders from below, but could not
distinguish their commands. He was con-
scious of his position by the changing OF
the location of objects below him. He
claimed never to have lost his presence
of mind. He pulled, he thinks at
the valve rope, but it broke in his
hand, and the end drifted from him. He
looked down and saw a rough country be-
low, and thought he would not like to land
there, for fear of grizzlies and the addi-
tional dread of getting into some deep
canyon that he would be unable to find his
way out of.
It was getting along toward dark, and a
more level country The boy tried but
failed to reach the valve rope again, and
almost gave up, when an inspiration seized
him.
He thought of his knife. Standing up on
the scantling, his limbs already stiffened by
the cold and the contracted position that
they had been in so long, he reached for his
pocket knife, and opening it put it in his
teeth and climbed up the swinging quarter
inch rope until he reached the balloon. 1t
would not do to make large puncture, SC
he cut a small hole and crawled back to his
perch The balloon, relieved of its gas, slow
ly sank to the ground, and when within a few
feet the boy swung off from his perilous
seat and landed uninjured, except for a
slightly sprained ankle. AS he leaped the
balloon missing his weight, went up to the
clouds again and disappeared almost in
stantly. 1t was now nearly night, and he
was five miles from any house on the Susan
plains, and fifteen miles from Benicia.
His full name is James Gates, and he is
vet living and is prosperous